A Brief Historical Survey of the Anomalous Role of the United States District Court in the Massachusetts Judicial System

"...The history of the federal courts in Massachusetts may
be divided into three periods. Each period witnessed
development of a distinctive aspect to the separate role of
the federal courts in the Commonwealth's legal system.
The initial, or classical period, during which the basic
but limited jurisdiction of the federal courts was defined
and exercised, extended from their establishment in 1789
until 1935, when challenges to New Deal initiatives confronted
the Massachusetts federal bench.

The transitional period, involving realignment of the
role of the federal courts as a consequence of the New Deal
and the doctrine of Erie v. Tompkins, can be dated from
1935 to 1959, when the first of the judges to have served in
World War II was appointed.

The current period, from 1960 to the present, finds the
modern Massachusetts federal court concerned with the
problem of policing the governmental institutions of the
commonwealth.

The development of the several aspects to the role of the
federal court has been cumulative and, to some degree,
aspects to the role which later became prominent were
foreshadowed in earlier periods. Nevertheless, this liear
taxonomy provides a legible approach to the history of the
federal court in Massachusetts over the past two centuries..."